No bikes involved. Just a 21-year old drunk wrong-way driver who killed six people, including her own sister. And just four years after she was convicted of DUI at 17 — and received two other tickets while her license was apparently still suspended.

So six innocent people are dead because, once again, authorities didn’t care enough to keep a dangerous driver off the road.

As Tom Vanderbilt famously put it, drivers licenses are too easy to get and too hard to lose. And that needs to change.

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re: wrong-way, 100 MPH, DUI, and murderer Olivia Carolee Culbreath who had previous DUI conviction — it’s almost NEVER their first incident.

When there is a major crime, police don’t go looking for random 1st time offenders, vast majority of time it’s a recidivist ex-convict. Same with DUI.

It will never happen, but even permanent revocation of license on 1st conviction wouldn’t work, because they have no qualms driving without license, or “borrowing” someone else’s car.

I’d read some countries will seize license plates — that’s one high visibility way to “mark” DUI ex-cons. Make registered owner of car fully liable and also subject to license plate seizure if they “loan” car to someone with a suspended or revoked license.

” … Maya Culbreath also had been convicted of DUI multiple times, according to state records.

DMV records showed her driver’s license was suspended multiple times in connection with excessive blood-alcohol levels. Her license was revoked effective May 6, 2013, and it had not been reinstated at the time of the crash, DMV officials said … ”

I have ridden on my bicycle to work many a day down Santa Monica Blvd in the bike lane from the 405 to Century City.

The greatest threat to cyclists were Metro Buses.
Rarely do I have problems with cars.

The buses cut across the bike lanes to get from the stops back into the flow of traffic, but they also tend to linger and ride in the bike lane too long at times.

Buses are a dangerous vehicle on the road primarily because Metro Driver’s performance reviews and relationship with supervisors are heavily dependent on keeping the bus on schedule. Riders file complaints when a bus is late and that spills down. So maintaining a pace to stay on schedule is a priority for a driver. Safety is a factor too, but supervisors don’t hear complaints about safety issues regularly from riders and the, “squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

I had this bus problem when I use to commute to work on SM Blvd in WeHo. Metro buses behave the same way on Sunset through Silverlake. Now a lot of times I wait behind a stopped bus until they leave the bus lane. I’ve had too many close calls with Metro buses to do otherwise. That’s why I know I’ll probably never use the new bus/bike lane on Wilshire.

So, um, the bus driver in the video probably expected Mr. Eisenberg to stop at the red light, which is likely why he pulled out rather than waiting.

I don’t really care if a rider rolls a red when it’s safe to do so. But if you do, your safety (and the safety of everybody around you) is YOUR responsibility. Don’t expect other riders/drivers to notice you when you do something unpredictable.

Personally, I haven’t had a problem with bus drivers. I give them a little more breathing room (I’d hate to have their job) and try not to delay them (there are 50 people on that bus, and I’m just one guy). But in terms of not putting me in danger, I think they’re doing pretty well.

Car drivers, on the other hand, risk my life with their stupidity on average 2-3 times per day.

I did not roll through a red light. I never roll through red lights. Not ever. I made a legal left turn on a green light from WB SM to Ocean. The bus driver was either too inattentive to notice me making a legal left turn, or he was in too much of a hurry to care that he cut me off. Either way, your preconceived bias is not relevant.

Apology accepted. I calculate the risks of everything I do, and try to play them in my favor. I use ultra bright flashy head and tail lights during daytime to improve my odds of being seen. I am very predictable with mt actions. My experiences with MTD bus drivers in particular is to be prepared for the unexpected. The actions of this MTD driver, while not necessarily expected, were anticipated. I use a rear mirror, and was monitoring my escape route to the left if needed. So this episode, while neither dramatic or surprising, was none the less aggravating.

Bus drivers don’t care. They consider a cyclist as a bug that needs to be squashed. My son and I were riding next to the curb on a busy street and a bus put the squeeze on him as it pulled over to turn right. Luckily he was able to jump the curb at a lateral angle (we have mountain bikes) otherwise he would have been crushed by the bus. The bus turned right and we followed it on our bikes. We caught up with it about a block away at the metro station, my son got on the bus and gave the driver the lecture of his life. Of course, the driver acted like he didn’t know what had happened. We also got the number of the bus and later called the bus company and reported him. Whether or not any disciplinary action was taken, we never knew.